Transmission-gear.



Patentedept. 11,191?.

mnmimumn A. T; FORWARD. TRANSMISSION GEAR. APPLICATION FILED HOV. Y.I9I6,

ALFRED fr. ronwennor Mauren, oarironiirii.

i TRANSMISSION-GAR.

insertar.

To all whom t may concern:

Be it known that l, ALFRED T. FORWARD, a citizen of the United States,residing at Manton, inthe county of Tehama and State of California, haveinvented new and useful Improvements in Transmission-Gears, of which thefollowing is a specification.

The present invention relates to improvements in ktransmissionmechanismfor transmitting rotary motion from a driving shaft to ,a driven shaft,such as are used for transmitting power 'from the engine of `a motor carto the driving wheels thereof.

@ne object of the invention is to `provide such mechanism, the gears of`which will always be in mesh andthe connections between them can be.changed while the engine is at full speed, thereby avoiding the troubleand annoyance of meshing the teeth of the .gear wheelsV together,` andthe danger of stripping the gears by reason of failure to throw out theclutch when `interehanging the gears.

A further object is to provide such mech- U anism, which, when `theengine has been driving a motor car or other moving object at highspeed, and it is. required to reduce thev speed of the driven object,the means at lower speedV will automatically engage when the speed ofthe driven object has fallen to the desired lower `speed,.therebypreventing the engagement of the gears with a sudden jar caused by thedifferences in the speed of the several coengaging parts. A; furtherobject is to provide such transmission mechanism which will -obviate thenecessity of using the mainclutch which is commonly used on motor cars.i

ln the accompanying drawing, Figure l is a plan view, partly brokenaway, of my -improved transmission; Fig. 2 is a broken side viewthereof; Fig. 3 is an enlarged side viewof a gear wheel; Fig. 4 islabroken Iside view of a clutch member showing a gear wheelin section;Fig. 5 is an rend view `of said clutch member.

AReferring tothe drawing, 1 indicates an engine shaft, the rear end ofwhich is connected by a universal joint 2 to the front end of anintermediate shaft', which eX- tends rearwardly and at a slight anglewith the engine shaft, its rear end being slidably supported in abearing 4, -movably carried by a wheel or disk `5, integral `with a hub6 and agear wheel 7, and rotatable on ball Specification of LettersPatent.

resented sept. ii, mit.

Application led November 7, 1918.V Serial No. 129,951.

bearings 8 around a driven shaft 9, the rear end of which is operativelyconnected to the driving wheels of a motor car, or to some other objectto be rotated.l

Said intermediate shaft has fixedly secured thereto a Slightly beveledgear wheel 10, which meshes with a bevel gear wheel 11 keyed, as shownat V12, to the shaft 9. Said gear wheel 7 -meshes with a gear wheel 13on an interface, and pressed outward by compressed coiled Springs 22 insaid sockets. rlhe outer ends of said pins travel 'in circular grooves23 in the inner faces of low and high gear wheels 24, 25, said grooveseach gradually increasing in depth from two diametrically oppositeshoulders 26 through asemi-circle. pon said countershaft 16 is secured abrake drum 27, on which is a brake band 28. Said gear wheels 24, 25 meshrespectively with gear wheels 29, 30 keyed to the driven `shaft 9. fortransmitting power to said driven object The larger gear wheel 29 mesheswith a gear wheell loose on a reversing shaft 32, upon which is keyedagear wheel 33 meshi ing with the gear wheel 7. Said gear wheel 8l can becaused to rotate with said shaft V2 by means of a friction clutch 34 slidably keyed to the shaft 32 and adapted to be moved into an annularcavity in the gear wheel 31.

it rotates the wheel or disk 5, and therefore vo rotates also thecountershaft 16 which is not held by the brake band. To start the car,the'clutch member 18 is moved into engagement with the low gear wheel24, `which causes said low gear wheel to rotate with the countershaft,the pins 20 in the clutch member being projected by the springs andfinding their way to the lltnvest part of the groove 23 and abuttingagainst the shoulders 26, and thereby rotates the shaft 9 at low speed.The bevel gear 10 is still rotating around'the bevel gear ll, but

at a less speed of rotary motion aboutit-he,

' wheel 2li.

To shift now to high speed, the countershaft 1G is arrested, bytightening the brake band 28 around the brake drum 27, and thereby thewheel 5 is also locked, rendering stationary also the intermediate shaft3, `so that the bevel gear l1 rotates at the same speed as the bevelgear l0, if the bevel gears 10 and 11 are equal, as here shown, althoughthis is not necessarily the case, and therefore driving the shaft 9 atthe lhighest speed attainable.

To change the speed fromhigh to intermediate .or low, as, for instance,the former, the clutch member is movedinto engagement with the gearwheel Q5, the pins yin ,the face of the clutch member opposite to saidgear wheel being alternately driven into their sockets by the bottoms ofthe `groove in the gear wheel 25, and being projected .outward .fromsaid sockets by the compressed springs 22, and the brake is thenreleased, permit- `ting'thev shaft 1G to rotate. As thefspeed of thevshaft 9 decreases and that ofthe shaft 11G gradually increases, thespeed ofthe latter shaft eventually becomes greater than that of theformer. rlhe pins in the clutch member then catch up with, and iinpingeagainst, theshoulders in the grooves `in the gear wheel and rotate theshaft il(3,'so that the shaft 9 is now driven partly by the -directlengagement lof the bevel wheels l0 and 1l, and also partly by therotation ofthe gear wheel 3G meshing with the gear wheel 25, rotated bythe shaft IG driven by the gear wheel l5, intermediate gear wheel llandgear wheel 7 which is secured to the Vwheel 5 rotated'byftheintermediate shaft.

A similar result occurs when the clutch member is `moved into engagementwith `the low gear wheel 2i, the speed of the shaft 9 relative to theengine shaft being still further reduced.

Vhen it is desired to vreverse the motion of the shaft 9, the brakeVband 28 beingl 'still loose, and the clutchmember 1S being out ofengagement with'both the'gear wheels 2st and Q5, the friction clutch 345is thrown into engagement with the gear wheel 31,

"and then motion is imparted 'in |the reverse direction tothe shaft 9,by ineans'of the rotary motion of the wheel 7 about the shaft 9, therebyAalso rotating the gear wheel 33 meshing therewith, and also the shaft32 upon which said gear wheel is keyed, thereby also rotating thefriction clutch 34, and thereby.

1. In a `device ofthecharacterV described,

the combination of la driving shaft, ani-intermediate shaft, -a `vflexible;joint Aconnecting 4'one endof the intermediate lshaft lwith thedriving shaft', a driven shaft in vline with the driving shaft andhaving: a bevel :gear fixed thereon, a bearing revoluble around saiddriven shaft, :the other end `of said intermediate shaftV `rotating insaid bearing, a bevel wheel on said intermediate shaft meshing with theIfirst-named `bevel wheel, a .countershaft `parallel .with said Y drivenshaft, a brake therefor, means where- Aby said countershaft'rotates'in`the same direction as said 1bearing,1;a gear-wheel looseV Aon saideountershaft, a clutch member rotatable with, 'but slidable on, Vsaidconmiter-A shaft, and adapted to engage said loose gear wheel, l and :a'gear wheel 'fixed `on said A driven shaft, and with which saidloosergear wheel meshes.' t

Q. In a/deviceof .the character described,

the combination of a drivingshaft,`angintermediatesha-ft, a flexiblejoint .connectingfone end of the 'intermediateshaft with ithedrivingshaft, a drivenfshaft inV line with the ldriving shaft and having iafbevel gear fixed' thereon,"a bearing revoluble around said drivenshaft, fthe iother lend 'of said inter- V mediate shaft rotating in saidbearing, a

bevelwhee'lon saidintermediateshaft meshing with the irst-namedbevelwheelya countershaft parallel with said .driven shaft, -a

brake therefor,zmea1'is"whereby said countershaft rotates in the samedirection as saidV bearing, fg'ear wheels loose on said "countershaft, aclutch member rotatablevwith, but slidable on, saidcountershaft,Fandfadapted ftoengageeitherof said loose gearfwheels, andgearwheels Afixed-on said` drivenzshaft, and with `which said loose gearlwheels. respectively mesh'. l v f 3. Ina deviceof thee'haracterdescribed, the combination of a-driving shaft, an'intermediate-sliaft,'fa:fiexible jointconnecting one endof the A"intermediate shaft-withrthe tlr-iviso ing shaft, a driven shaft in line with the drivingshaft and having a bevel gear flXed thereon, a bearing revoluble aroundsaid driven shaft, the other end of said intermediate shaft rotating insaid bearing, a bevel Wheel on said intermediate shaft meshing with thefirst-named bevel vvheel, a countershaft parallel With said drivenshaft, a brake therefor, means whereby said countershaft rotates in thesame direction as said bearing, a gear Wheel loose onsaid countershaft,a clutch member rotatable with, but slidable on, said countershaft, andadapted to engage said loose gear Wheel automatically when the speed ofthe loose gear Wheel diminishes to that of the clutch member, and a gearWheel fixed on said driven shaft, and With Which said loose gear Wheelmeshes.

4. In a deviceof the character described,

the combination of a driving shaft, an interj mediate shaft, a ieXiblejoint connecting one end of the intermediate shaft with the drivingshaft, a driven shaft in line With the driving shaft and having a bevelgear iiXed thereon, a bearing revoluble around said driven shaft, theother end of said intermediate shaft rotating in said bearing, a

`bevel Wheel on said intermediate shaft meshing With the first-namedbevel Wheel, a reversing shaft rotated in the opposite direction by therevolution of said bearing, a friction clutch thereon, a gear Wheel Withwhich said friction clutch can engage, and a gear Wheel meshingtherewith on the driven shaft.

5. In a device of the character described, the combination of a drivingshaft, an intermediate shaft, a flexible joint connecting one end of theintermediate shaft with the driving shaft, a driven shaft in line withthe driving shaft and having a bevel gear fixed thereon, a bearingrevoluble around said driven shaft, the other end of said intermediateshaft rotating in said bearing, a bevel Wheel on said intermediate shaftmeshing With the first-named bevel Wheel, a countershaft parallel withsaid driven shaft, a brake therefor, means whereby said countershaftrotates in the same direction as said bearing, a gear Wheel loose onsaid countershaft, a clutch member rotatable with, but slidable on, saidcountershaft, and adapted to engage said loose gear wheel, a gear wheelfixed on said driven shaft, and with Which said loose gear Wheel meshes,and a friction clutch on the countershaft adapted to engage the saidloose gear Wheel.

6. In a device of the character described, the combination of a drivingshaft, an intermediate shaft, a iieXible joint connecting one end of theintermediate shaft with the driving shaft, a driven shaft in line withthe driving shaft and having a conical transmission device thereon, abearing revoluble around said driven shaft, the other end of saidintermediate shaft rotating in said bearing, a conical transmissiondevice on said intermediate shaft co-engaging With the first-nameddevice, a countershaft, a brake therefor, means for rotating saidcountershaft from the revolution of said bearing, a gear Wheel loose onsaid countershaft, means whereby said gear Wheel can be caused to rotateWith said countershaft, and a gear Wheel fixed on said driven shaft, andwith which said loose gear Wheel meshes.

ALFRED T. FORWARD.

Copies of this patent may be obtained for five cents each, by addressingthe Commissioner of Patents,

' Washington, D. C.

